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about pair Networks

Pittsburgh Datacenter Tour

pair Networks operates its own exclusive, custom-built Internet datacenters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Adjoining our headquarters office, the datacenters have been pre-built to accommodate years of growth. The datacenters feature everything necessary to ensure the absolute best in uptime and reliability for your site.

World-Class Network

We operate our own dedicated, multi-homed network in our own datacenters. Our local network is fully-switched and collision-free, while our external connections to the Internet are 10Gbps to multiple, high-quality network service providers. We use Brocade network gear for wire-speed, rock-solid connectivity to our upstream providers.

Through hand-tuning in addition to BGP route selection, we ensure optimal route selection focused on private peering and automatic failover in the event of outages.

We are continually expanding and upgrading our network for capacity and diversity.

Our connectivity providers are:

» Verizon 10Gbps
» Global Crossing 10Gbps
» Level(3) 10Gbps

Redundant Climate Control

The sensible heat output of thousands of powerful servers is considerable, and without environmental control, servers will fail or have their lifespans reduced considerably.

Our custom-built datacenters employ multiple redundant climate control units, utilizing two completely separate air duct systems which are interweaved throughout each of the datacenters. Each system is capable of controlling temperature and humidity within each of the datacenters. Additional cooling units also contribute to crosswind airflow.

Automatic failover systems ensure that in the event of hardware failure, environmental cooling is preserved. Temperature monitors placed throughout the datacenters ensure that we have early warning of any change in conditions.

Uninterruptible Power System

Providing continuous clean power is a significant challenge for modern datacenters. All of our power is delivered through two redundant 1000 kVA Liebert Uninterruptible Power Systems. Weighing in at more than nine metric tons, these units can operate our entire facility for more than four hours on battery power alone.

These UPS units, however, rarely need to provide power from battery as our Automatic Transfer Switch ensures that our standby generators come online promptly in the event of an outage.

Standby Generators

Our factory-new, redundant 1.5 megawatt Detroit Diesel generators provide emergency power for our facility in the event of utility outages. Started by our Automatic Transfer Switch, and fueled from a sizeable base tank, these generators can power our datacenter indefinitely.

These generators are tested weekly and are maintained rigorously. Multiple refueling contracts ensure continued operation even during extended outages.

For further power protection, we also employ a one-megawatt parallel surge protection system within each datacenter.

Fire Suppression System

Our automatic fire suppression systems use distributed sensors to determine when hazardous fire or smoke conditions exist in the datacenters. After appropriate warning, including notification to the building alarm system and local fire department, the FM-200 fire suppression agent is dumped to extinguish fire or smoldering within the datacenters.

The suppression agent is designed to smother fires without damaging electronic equipment. The tank shown here is one of many tanks holding the agent under high pressure.

FreeBSD and Ubuntu Linux Servers

We maintain thousands of FreeBSD and Ubuntu servers in our datacenters. The datacenters are capable of housing tens of thousands of servers. We use only top-of-the-line, energy efficient server hardware, tuned specifically for reliability and high performance.

We maintain extensive spares on-site and are able to upgrade or replace servers easily at any time. Having spare server parts on-site has contributed greatly to our server uptime and availability.

Physical Security

Physical security and online security may be equally important for Internet datacenters. We operate datacenters with access restricted to authorized personnel. Our facility is staffed around the clock, and video surveillance covers all critical areas.

Our FreeBSD and Ubuntu servers are extensively hardened and tested against security exploits. All unnecessary services are disabled, all security patches are up-to-date, and servers are audited regularly for attempted break-ins. Our systems administrators actively maintain awareness of new security developments, and as open-source operating systems, FreeBSD and Ubuntu are easy to update with new protections.

Denver Datacenter

pair Networks also offers hosting services out of a secondary datacenter located in Denver, Colorado.

The Denver datacenter is staffed locally 24/7/365, and is accessible via private remote access from our Pittsburgh headquarters. Like Pittsburgh, Denver is typically free of major natural disasters, and has low risk geography and climate, making it an excellent location for web hosting.